The Business Rising Podcast Ep. 1 | Transactional vs. Relational

Welcome to The Business Rising Podcast!Today we talk about the difference between treating customers and business deals as a transaction rather than taking a relational long term approach.This topic has spawned from our interest in “being human” in our marketing efforts and other areas of business. Kenny - The PHNX21creative Agency’s founder - shares a personal experience as anexample of why being relational in allbusiness deals is important to him.

Takeaways:

Kenny, referring to different experiences with different businesses, poses the question: "Did you feel like a number, or did you feel like a person?"

Feeling like just another number, or treating/viewing someone as just another number, is a transactional approach in business.

Feeling like a human whose opinions and needs matter, or treating others like they matter, is a relational approach in business.

People are pitched to constantly - because of this, their ability to read if someone is just trying to get money out of them, or whether they are actually being heard, is pretty strong.

Treating clients (potential or existing) relationally, rather than making them a transaction, is a long-term investment.

Businesses that are more interested in long-term investments, rather than momentary money exchanges, have a better chance of surviving and beating out the competition.

Don't be a "one hit wonder" business.

Making a lot of money fast is great, but is not beneficial if it does not remain steady.

Don't get locked into the mechanics of making a sale, or let the fear of not making enough money keep you from being relational.

Connect with your customers.

Focus on life time value.

Focus on leaving a legacy - plan on still being around twenty, thirty, forty years from now.

Being relational also comes from believing in what you do - this plays over into your hiring process as well.

When you hire people who just want to come in and punch a clock, then you cannot expect 100% from them.

Not because they are not good at what they do, but because it is harder to instill passion in someone who didn't care to begin with, than it is to wait and hire someone who already has a flicker that you can flame.

If you hire people who just punch a clock, you treat and pay them like so - which in the end, makes them a transaction.

If you do not invest in a relationship with your team, or you do not treat them like they are human, how do you expect them to turn around and treat your customers?

You set the tone.

Start being relational on the inside first, with your team, and it will trickle out into your conversations and interactions with customers.